03 November 2007, Santo Tomas de Castillo, Guatemala.

And yes indeed we had a windy arrival, a very windy arrival. When turning into the narrow channel leading to the dock we had 30 knots of wind on the beam. As expected the pilot did not volunteer to sail the ship in with this wind and just left me to it. Luckily there was more room for docking than last cruise which made it possible to drift to the dock a bit faster and we were alongside at the bright and early time of 05.15. Given the full day tour ample time to get to the airport by sunrise and off in the plane to Tikal and Copan.

Last week I wrote about the ship donating matrasses to local charity. Due to that contact, our chief housekeeper is now instigating a program to sponsor a local school for the whole season that we are coming to the port. Also the guests on board are getting into gear as well. One of our long time repeat guests brought two computers with screens and keyboards and two other guests suitcases with clothing and toys. Great initiatives for which the locals are really grateful. Luckily I heard about it just in time so I could alert the purser and have it all manifested for the authorities. Taking it ashore is no problem, as long as the paperwork reflects what is going on. With no landing form, donating suddenly becomes smuggling and then I have some of my guests stuck in the local customs office because of their good intentions. So we filled out the forms and all was well.

Guatemala is working hard to make tourism a mainstay of the economy. Eco tourism shows great promise and Guatemala has a lot of un-spoiled natural rain forest and jungle to offer, right on the door step of most cities. Thus their environmental rules are also getting very strict. An un-expected side effect of these rules it that is hampers us from doing our regular maintenance on the outside of the ship. Normally the sailors are out there in each port to touch up the hull and the superstructure of the ship but that is not allowed anymore. Neither in Santo Tomas, nor in most of the other Caribbean ports. The idea behind the restrictions is of course to prevent paint and other chemicals from getting into the water. Holland America line has very strict protocols in dealing with work outside the ship and how to avoid spills but the rules are the same for everybody. My Chief Officer is greatly displeased with this as he has a hard time keeping rust streaks of the hull and to keep the paint work gleaming with regular fresh water wash downs.

When departing Santo Tomas we are in a great hurry to make Cozumel on schedule and it is really irritating that the port is located in a very shallow lagoon. The shallow water prevents us from speeding up due to squat and not having enough water under the keel to get a good flow around the hull. In the approach channel we have about 12 to 16 feet under the keel. Putting more engine power on beyond what is needed for 12 knots has no use as the ship simply does not go faster. The squat effect increases the ships draft by another 4 feet and the water has not enough room anymore to flow fast enough under and around the hull, builds up at the bow and slows the ship down.

Squat is a natural phenomenon that affects all ships, the bigger you are and the faster you go the more effect it has. When you put power on the propellers these dug themselves in, into the water, to do their job. As a result the stern goes down. Because the rest of the ship is connected to the stern it goes down as well. It is clearly visible with speed boats that leave the dock and increase speed. You see the bow coming out of the water and the stern sinking in. The bigger the ship, the deeper it squats. On a 32 feet draft, 12 feet or more squat at 20 knots is very well possible.

So when we leave Santo Tomas, the first 30 minutes in the channel it is no more than 12 knots. Once past the sea buoy we can up to 15 knots for the next 30 minutes and so only an hour after leaving the port we can come up to sea speed as the depth of the water has then increased to 60 feet. By midnight we are out in the open Caribbean and finally the water depth increases to over 1000 feet. Cozumel tomorrow is much different. Here deep water starts about 500 feet away from the dock. So when we leave the dock there, losing only 5 minutes to disembark the pilot, we can come up to full sea speed almost at once.